[muffin]

Just as I am about to buy a new 8.33 radio (there is no hope of actually getting it fitted until well into next year), a newsletter arrives this morning from AOPA saying that many countries including the U.K. have applied for and got various exemptions from the requirement. As my aircraft times out and becomes unusable in just over two years time, it is a very expensive and pointless exercise for me to buy one for two years use only.

I think I will just wait and see what happens!

[Gas Guzzler]

"The scale and scope of the national exemption varies and has not yet been officially published by all states."

No official details of how the UK exemption will play out yet so don't hold your breath, however since I've just laid out best part of £8k it's a fair bet there will be a long delay. .......Aaaarhh

[MercianMarcus]

"applied for and got various exemptions" is a bit vague to say the least.

Either the CAA applied for an extension beyond end of 2017 or they didn't. I suspect they didn't. And if they didn't there's nothing to get.

As for: "many countries". The fact France and Ireland have an extension is surely only rubbing salt into the wounds of a/c UK owners!

[CloudHound]

The CAA and in particular their GA Unit have stated there will be no extension to the mandate.

This persistent rumour has the potential to put a/c owners and operators in a difficult position vis-a-via the regs. It's fake.

[riverrock]

My understanding is that congestion is only an issue in SE England / Belgium/Holland/ NW Germany
If your country isn't in that area, an exemption can be done.
France has fairly few airports in the area compared to the others.

[muffin]

Seems like more than a rumour to me..............................


Just three months away from the official deadline for equipping with an 8.33 kHz radio, several states are now officially confirming that they will exempt certain airspace users from the requirement.
According to Eurocontrol the following 18 states have notified exemptions: Ireland, Latvia, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Netherlands, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Malta, Estonia, Poland, UK, Norway, France, Spain and Denmark. Normally the content and the details of these exemptions are supposed to be published in the national AIPs.
The scale and scope of the national exemption varies and has not yet been officially published by all states.

[Marvin]

As the licence fee goes down significantly with an 833 frequency I cannot see many small airfield in the U.K. wanting to retain 25khz.

[Paul_Sengupta]

As the licence fee goes down significantly with an 833 frequency I cannot see many small airfield in the U.K. wanting to retain 25khz.

Doesn't matter. Having an 8.33 ground radio isn't going to affect operation, assuming no frequencies are re-allocated around them.

[Robin500]

You just know what will happen between now and Dec31st, should it transpire that I've just spent over a grand for no good reason other than EASA/CAA bungling. Someone should be held to account. This whole sorry unnecessary farce, is just that!

[muffin]

I have had it confirmed today from two independent sources that the CAA exemption applications referred to in the IOPA newsletter are those to do with a number of frequencies where the introduction of 8.33 is deferred for a period. The CAA has not applied and has no intention of applying for any further exemptions. So at least it appears that it is now cast in stone, so I can go ahead with the purchase of a new radio (irrespective of the fact that I still consider the whole exercise to be completely unnecessary).
Thanks to both AOPA and HCGB for their prompt responses.

[CloudHound]

And there is still Euro-money in the kitty to help defray your costs.

The process works, provided you fill the form in correctly and supply the key bits of paperwork. Don't worry about when it can get installed, that work isn't covered just the purchase price. Buy now, claim and install later.

[GAFlyer4Fun]

When this kicked off last year it was written on the CAA website or CAA document there could be no more exemptions for the UK for 8.33 kHz radios. I don't know what has changed if anything apart from speculation and wishful thinking by those facing a bill eventually for a new radio.

Apart from 8.33 being due to a legislation change with N years of transition that was supposed to end this year, how about considering it based on simple economics.

How long will a trusty old radio that is working perfectly realistically last?

Historically prices of new radios don't change much over the years (thinking back about 10 years when we costed but did not fit a gns430).
When saving interest rates are so low, a way to save money is to reduce the size of debts or reduce the price of required purchases. There was a time when many aircraft owners used to wait for favourable US dollar exchange rate to get parts cheaper than in the UK.
EU grant of 20% goes a long way to help reduce the price of a purchase and obviously there will be no future EU grants after the UK leaves the EU. How many investments make 20% ?
Not buying at all only makes sense if can guarantee will never need to fit an 8.33kHz radio.

[Paul_Sengupta]

How long will a trusty old radio that is working perfectly realistically last?

Mine's been in since 1974.

I'll let others judge how "working perfectly" it is.

[GAFlyer4Fun]

I think you misread what I wrote.

[Dave W]

@Paul_Sengupta , say again?